His Other Life

Chapter 24

TWENTY-FOUR

ISLA

Present day

“It’s not like I don’t know what it looks like,” Isla said into the silence of the car. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a bracelet spelling out “serendipity” in Morse code was trying to materialize, but she kept it at bay. Coincidences, nothing more. “But I’m telling you—Jonah wouldn’t cheat. He was a good man.”

They were halfway back to Bend, and so far, no one had mentioned either this Gemma person or the note since they got back on the road.

“Of course he was,” Mav said.

“Good men make mistakes too.” Rowan regarded Isla in the rearview.

She knew that. And Jonah hadn’t been perfect. But something like this? No.

“Hey.” Louise got Isla’s attention. “She could be a colleague. Don’t stress about it.”

The colleague theory again. But what if “Gemma” was the person who’d taken the photo of Jonah in the car? The one who’d given him the bracelet? That was hardly colleague behavior. No, stop it! At least now she had a name to ask about. “I’ll call them Monday and find out. They’re closed on weekends.”

Louise nodded. “I think that will be good. In the meantime, we’ll canvass the town.”

Talking to people was the last thing Isla wanted to do. She needed space, silence, and time to sit with what had just transpired. The tree, the straight road, and the note—possibly also the bracelet—might be disjoined details in this story to the others, but Isla knew at a gut level that a context was being formed, and she couldn’t see its pattern with all these voices around her.

As soon as they pulled into the hotel parking lot, she excused herself. “I’m going to go for a walk before we do anything else. I need a moment.” She turned to Louise. “Will you be okay waiting in the lobby, or should we meet you in town later?”

“Oh, um…” Louise clicked open her phone for the time.

“I’ll keep you company in the lobby,” Mav said. “I could do with another coffee.”

“Tea,” Rowan corrected. “You’ve had enough coffee today.”

Mav looked like he was about to argue, but then he got out of the car with a resigned, “Tea it is.”

“I’m going to get some writing done,” Rowan said. “Meet back in an hour?”

Isla pulled on her gloves. “Sure.”

While the others went inside, Isla set a course toward the River Trail. She reached the scenic path at a quick pace, her breath billowing in front of her in the cool air. It felt good to move. Like the fog was clearing. Her legs were a pace away from breaking into a jog, but since she wasn’t wearing the shoes for it, she didn’t allow the transition. Instead, she set her sights on a bridge far in the distance and decided she wouldn’t think a single thought until she got there.

It was a good intention, but not a realistic one. The note still burned in her pocket, so when she finally reached her goal, she stopped at a strip of railing overlooking the water and rested her elbows against it while allowing her heart to slow. Gemma , she thought. Louise could be right that she was a coworker, but it hadn’t passed Isla by that there was no phone number on the note. Whoever she was, Jonah must have known her well enough to know how to reach her, and he’d never mentioned anyone by that name.

Was she here that weekend? The thought struck Isla with sudden force, making her push off the railing. What if she’d somehow been involved in the crash? She could be a stalker—someone who’d chased them off the road maybe.

Isla shook her head. No, she was reaching now. She would have hit the brakes before things got out of hand. She was a careful driver for God’s sake. Besides, they didn’t live in an action drama. They were ordinary people with ordinary lives.

But whatever the note was about, they had to get to the bottom of who Gemma was. Jonah had known her well enough not to need her number. Well enough to smile at her like that in the car? Well enough that their meeting could be considered serendipitous ? Monday couldn’t come fast enough.

Isla’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and got ready to answer but then she saw the time—only fifteen minutes to get back. She spun on her heel and set off walking again, picking up her mom’s call on the go.

Nancy was busy on the other end and didn’t respond to Isla’s, “Hello,” right away.

“Ulysses, no,” her mom said. “That’s not for you. You stinking cat. You’re getting yogurt all over the counter.”

“Hello?” Isla said again. “What’s going on?”

“He put his whole paw in my bowl,” Mom said. “Hold on.”

Isla walked as fast as she could, the phone pressed to her ear. She hated being late.

“Okay, I got it now,” Mom said. “I’m not going to miss him, that’s for sure.”

“You are too. Or is it someone else who makes blanket nests for him on the couch when I’m not looking?”

“Fine, I’ll miss him a little. Which is sort of why I’m calling. But first things first. How are you? Is everyone behaving? Mav’s doing better? Did your friend make it there?”

“Whoa, Mom. Slow down. Everything is fine.”

“It’s just that your message described quite an eventful few days.”

Now that was an understatement. “Yeah, but we’re on track again.”

“Oh good. Are you exercising? You sound like you’re out of breath.”

“I went for a walk. Now I’m heading back. We, um… went to the place where it happened today. I needed to think.”

Nancy was quiet for a long while. “That must have been hard,” she said.

A knot lodged itself in Isla’s throat. Why did parents have that power—to hook into your most core emotion and pull it to the surface? She blinked at the blurring river then forced herself to swallow the knot down. “It was.”

“Any memories?”

“A feeling in my stomach from when we went off the road, I think. Nothing else. But we’re going to head into town as soon as I get back and start talking to some places we might have been.”

“Do you expect people will remember?”

Isla knew her mom too well to know that wasn’t an open-ended question. “I think what you’re really saying is you don’t think they will.”

“It has been a long time, Birdie. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

“I know.” As Isla veered off the trail and into a park, she slowed her stride to make conversation easier. “Hey, Mom, do you remember if Jonah ever mentioned the name Gemma when he talked about work?”

“Gemma?” The sound of a spoon meeting ceramic resounded through the line. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“No reason.” Mom didn’t need to know about the note yet. She’d worry needlessly.

Isla glanced at the time again. Now she was definitely late to meet the others. “Shoot, I’ve got to run. Was there something else? You said something about missing Ulysses?”

“Oh right. Well… Two things. I wanted to let you know we’ve set a date for the move.”

Isla’s step faltered. Somehow, since being gone, she hadn’t thought once of either Mom’s Arizona move or her own return to work. Now it all came crashing back. “Oh yeah? When?”

“May 31.”

She stopped altogether. “May? But that’s only two months away.”

“The realtor said I’ll get more interest if I sell before the summer. A lot of people move over break, especially if they have kids.”

“I guess. But…” What about me? she wanted to ask. It was too soon. “But will that give you enough time? Wouldn’t it be easier to go in—I don’t know—July maybe?”

Mom was silent for a beat, then she said, “We can do hard things, Birdie. Both of us.”

Isla looked up, and there in the distance were Rowan and Louise. Rowan waved when he spotted her.

“I know,” she said into the phone, even though she still had her doubts. “What was the other thing?”

“When do you think you’ll be back? Beth and Maggie want me to fly down to Phoenix with them Thursday to meet with our realtor there, but someone needs to be home for the painters.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

“You think or you know?”

They only had the hotel until Monday morning, then they were heading north again, so Isla saw no scenario where they wouldn’t be home Wednesday night at the latest. “Go with your friends,” she said. “I promise I’ll be home by then.” Isla waved back to Rowan. “But I’ve got to go now. The others are waiting.”

They said goodbye, and Isla hurried to reach her friends.

“We were getting worried,” Louise said when she did.

“I was on the phone with Mom. Sorry I’m late. Where’s Mav?”

Rowan cocked his head in the direction of the hotel. “He was getting grumpy, so I told him to stay back and rest. Nurse’s orders. We’ll come back for him before dinner.”

Louise pulled her shoulders up high in her red puffer jacket. “Ready to go?”

Once in the car, Rowan set course on the small downtown area where most of the shops and eateries were located.

“What exactly are we hoping to find out?” he asked.

Yes, what was she hoping for? Isla looked out the window, trying to picture another car ride along these same streets two years ago. She and Jonah had had at least twenty-four hours in town before they went to dinner at The Log House and never made it back to the hotel. Jonah must have brought his camera, and they both liked small antique shops. It was obviously unlikely anyone in town would know details of the accident, but if someone remembered her, maybe she could at least create a timeline of the events of that day and jog her memory that way.

“Anything,” Isla said. “If we were shopping in town. Where we had lunch.”

“If you were together,” Louise chimed in.

Isla twisted toward her. That was a good point and one she hadn’t considered. If they’d spent the day separately on what was supposed to be an anniversary trip, that could be damning. Except with Gemma’s name percolating in her head, Isla didn’t know if she wanted an answer to that question.

“Sure, that too,” she said. Something—anything—was better than nothing if she was to illuminate the black holes in her head.

Rowan parked on Bond Street, and they gathered in front of the car.

“It’s not very busy today,” Louise said. “Where do we start?”

Isla considered their options. There was a coffee shop and an art gallery across the street, and a clothing store next to where they were standing. “Split up?” she asked.

“You’ll have to send us a picture then,” Rowan said. “Of you and Jonah, I mean, so we have something to show.”

“Right.” Isla pulled out her phone and scrolled through her feed. She selected one of the two of them together and one of Jonah. In it he was grinning at the camera, posing in front of a firepit in Katelyn’s backyard a couple of years before the accident. The flames warmed his face and glinted in his eyes, and he was wearing the jacket currently wrapped around Isla’s shoulders. Back when he was happy. A shiver pricked her neck at the thought, which was there before she could prepare for it, because didn’t that imply that there had been a time when he wasn’t? Or had she meant “happy” as opposed to “dead”? Yes, she’d probably mis-thought, she decided and pressed SEND.

Rowan’s and Louise’s phones dinged simultaneously.

“Got ’em,” Rowan said.

Louise opened the images and stared at the screen, her hand going to her sternum as she let out a long sigh through her nose. “You’ve never showed me a picture of you two before,” she said. “It makes everything more real somehow.” Her eyes fluttered closed for an extended beat, as if she was trying to contain herself. “I’m so sorry, but this whole thing is so tragic.”

The genuine emotion in her voice hit Isla square in the chest. Her old friends from college and work had been at her side in the beginning, visiting her in the hospital and even making the drive to Mom’s once she’d been well enough to move in there. But one after the other they’d carried on with their lives, and when Isla couldn’t keep up, she’d absolved them of remembering her and her sorrow. She’d pulled up the drawbridge and made the moat fertile ground for her demons, both to keep herself in and others out. To have people in her life now who empathized and recognized that for Isla grief wasn’t a temporary state but a new skin, and who didn’t shy away from its ever-shifting shades, meant everything.

“Come here.” She pulled Louise into a tight hug. “If I haven’t said so before, thank you for being here.” She let go and faced Rowan, who was watching them with soft eyes. “Both of you.”

Rowan cleared his throat and swung his head away from her gaze, rubbing his fingers across his lips. “Of course,” he mumbled in a voice that was thicker than usual.

Isla took a steeling breath of the cool air. “Okay. So. Louise, you take the clothing store; Rowan, you take that café; and I’ll stop in at the gallery. Ask if they remember hearing about an accident two years ago.” As she said it aloud, the futility of their mission once again imposed, but no, she wasn’t going to let that deter them. She pressed on. “You can show the photos, see if they remember us. Any little detail could help jog my memory.”

The other two nodded, and then she and Rowan crossed the street.

Ten minutes later, they met up by the car again, none of them with anything to report.

“It was only the first place, and there’s a ton to go. Let’s continue,” Rowan said, and Isla fought the impulse to hug him too.

They worked their way down the block through a sweet shop, another few clothing stores, and a New Age crystal place where the owner offered to do a palm reading for Isla to aid her quest, which she politely declined to Louise’s great disappointment.

“It can’t hurt,” Louise said. “We should explore all avenues, and I can’t tell you how many times the cards have guided me right.”

“Tarot,” Isla explained to Rowan, who looked like he was having a hard time following their conversation.

“Oh. You’re into that?”

“I am. She’s not,” Louise said. Then to Isla: “Think about it, okay?”

Isla said she would.

The afternoon was getting late, and most of the stores were closing, so when they’d talked to staff in both the Mexican restaurant on the block and a second coffee shop, Isla called it a day. There were only so many times she could hear “No, sorry” in one afternoon. Besides, they had tomorrow too.

Later that evening, they had reservations at the same steakhouse where Jonah and Isla had eaten the night of the crash. Unlike in Olympia, here Isla knew she was walking into the place where Jonah had most likely last been seen alive, making the doors feel heavier than they should have when she pushed them open.

The first thing that hit her was the scent of grilled meat and smoke from the sunken fireplace centered in the room. Then the press of laughter and animated conversations. The place was packed as usual, with every table taken and more people waiting at the bar. The Log House had the best honeydew Martinis Isla had ever tried, and the waiters shook them at the table then left the shaker there for a refill. Her mouth watered at the thought. She hadn’t had a drink since Portland.

“Looks like there’s a wait,” Rowan said.

Isla pushed through a group of people crowding the foyer. “Not when you have reservations.”

They were seated in a booth along one of the walls, and because of the high backs, it was like entering a small private room that muted the outside noise. Two sconces and a metal-caged pendant lit up the space.

“It’s very fancy,” Louise said, undoing the fan shape of her white napkin and placing it in her lap. “But still kind of cozy. I like the fireplace.”

“Isn’t it nice?” Isla asked. “Just prepare for your hair to smell of smoke when you get home.”

The smoke smell had swathed her in the cold air that night.

Before her mind’s eye, she saw herself push open the door of the restaurant and step outside into the darkness, the warm inside air behind her billowing at her back as if giving her a shove. But where was Jonah in this memory?

She returned to the present and reached for her water glass. When she’d finished drinking, Mav was watching her from across the table. He raised his eyebrows in question, and she gave a small nod. Yes, there were memories here.

Louise and Rowan hadn’t noticed. They were busy reading over the menu. Isla picked hers up too and followed their lead.

“What are you having?” Rowan asked on her left. “The filet medallion sounds amazing. Do you know if it’s any good?” He pointed to it on her menu.

Isla smiled. “That’s what Jonah always ordered. With a side of scallop potatoes and Béarnaise sauce.”

“A man of good taste then.” Rowan looked up, and because he was right next to her, their eyes met with a proximity she wasn’t used to.

They both looked away at the same time, but not before a wave of some long-absent tide rolled through Isla, making her grasp onto the menu as if it was a lifesaving buoy. Thank goodness their server showed up right then.

“I was thinking,” Louise said once they’d been served their drinks, “I know you’re going to call Jonah’s work and everything, but are there other places we should put on the list to contact in case that doesn’t pan out? You said he traveled for work. Do you know where he stayed? Hotels keep records.”

“He usually stayed in the company condo,” Isla said. “Unless it was only for a few nights or someone else was using it.” She took a big gulp of her Martini.

“What else would he have done when he was on the road?” Louise asked. “Any hobbies? Did he work out? Maybe a gym membership? Think of places where he would have met other people.”

As in places where he might have met this Gemma… Isla drank again.

“How long was he usually gone for? Did he typically talk about his trips when he got home?”

“Hey now.” Mav turned to Louise. “That’s enough questions. Let the girl enjoy her meal.” His voice was sharper than Isla was used to hearing it.

“Maverick…” Rowan spoke with an edge.

Louise sat back, her expression pinched. “Sorry. I didn’t mean… Sorry. Of course.”

Isla looked from Louise to Mav. His lips were set in a tight line, and he was currently locked in a silent argument with Rowan. Finally, he huffed, reached for his wine glass, and muttered something that sounded like “It’s hard enough for her as it is.”

He was being protective of her, she realized. Always watching out for her. And as much as she didn’t need him to protect her from Louise, she still reached for his hand across the table and squeezed it. “I’m fine,” she said. “Promise.”

Then she turned to Louise and reassured her too. “No worries. I know you’re trying to help.”

Louise let out a breath. “Are you sure? I know I can get a little overeager at times.”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“And here’s the food right on time,” Rowan said, indicating the server.

As they dug in, Mav asked Louise about her meal, no doubt to make amends, and while they talked, Isla leaned closer to Rowan. “What was that about?” she whispered. “Mav’s not usually testy with people.”

Rowan tipped his head toward her. “Oh, he can be.”

His breath was warm with pepper and plum courtesy of his glass of Syrah. It reminded Isla of the sangria her dad used to make every Thanksgiving. She fought the impulse to inhale deeper.

Rowan leaned closer still, facing the back of the booth so he could whisper the rest. “But he told me she was asking a bunch of questions of him when you were on your walk too. I believe the word he used was ‘nosy.’ Which, I mean, what journalist isn’t? That’s why I suggested he stay back when we went into town earlier. He’s just looking out for you. And they seem to be fine again. I’ll talk to him later if you want.”

Isla agreed and returned to her steak frites, and gradually, her full belly and the addition of a second Martini relaxed her enough that she was able to enjoy the rest of the evening. She was leaning back against the wood partition after they’d paid the bill, waiting for Rowan and Mav to return from the restroom, when Louise smiled at her from the other side of the table.

“Thanks for letting me come along tonight,” she said. “I learned some new stuff. Did you know Mav can fold a sailboat out of a napkin?”

“I didn’t. He showed you?”

“Yeah, you were busy talking to Rowan.” She moved the silverware on her plate into a neat line. Hesitated. “You two seem to get along really well.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like maybe he likes you.”

Isla sputtered out a few consonants. “No, he doesn’t.”

Louise shrugged. “Okay. If you say so.” She smirked. “Would it be so bad if he did?”

Isla bit down on the inside of her cheek. Would it be bad? She shrugged the thought away. No, Louise was wrong about this one. Rowan was just being friendly.

And speak of the devil, there he was with Mav across the room now.

Louise started pulling on her jacket. “Oh, I took the liberty of showing Jonah’s picture to the staff when I went to the bathroom earlier by the way. I hope you don’t mind.”

“And?”

“Nothing. The hostess said hardly anyone who worked here two years ago is still on staff. Which makes sense. So many places had to downsize because of the pandemic.”

“Right.” Isla tried to brush off this information, but the weight of futility lodged itself anew in her stomach. If not even this place where she and Jonah had definitely dined could remember him, what were the chances that any other place would?

“Are we ready to go?” Rowan took his coat when Isla handed it to him.

“Yup, all ready.”

Isla trailed the others out the door, but her step faltered when the cold outside air hit her skin, the sense of déjà vu stopping her in her tracks. The gateway between the comforting warmth inside and the harsh night was a before and after etched in her cells, and with it a warning. Something was wrong.

Rowan noticed her lingering first and returned, concern stamped on his features.

“I got this pit in my stomach,” she said before he could ask.

“Is it the food?”

“No, I think I’m remembering something. But I can’t…” She frowned as she tried to capture the flimsy shreds of the feeling.

“Is there anything I can do?”

She concentrated for another few moments then gave up. “No. It does what it wants. Stupid memory.”

They proceeded to where Mav and Louise were waiting.

“False alarm,” Isla said. “Again.”

“Okay, well… I’m going to head up to Redmond,” Louise said. “Thanks so much for today. It honestly doesn’t feel like I just met you all.” She hugged them each in turn.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Isla said.

“Meet back in town around ten tomorrow?” Louise asked when they reached it. She dug around in her purse for the keys and unlocked the door.

“Ten, ten thirty.” Isla took hold of the top of the door as Louise got into the driver’s seat. “I’ll text you when everyone’s awake and done with breakfast.”

“Sounds good.” Louise went to grab the door handle.

“Wait. Your scarf.” Isla leaned down to pull the end of her friend’s knitted scarf off the ground and handed it to her. But as she squatted at Louise’s side, the sense of déjà vu returned, stronger this time. She stood, staring at her friend but seeing Jonah instead.

Louise didn’t notice. “Okay, see you tomorrow.” She pulled the door closed at the same time Isla pushed it shut from the outside.

And there in the smooth, chilly metal against her palm was the memory.

Isla stayed at the table to pay the bill, but Jonah didn’t wait. He needed fresh air, he said. He wasn’t feeling well.

No, Isla thought now. It wasn’t that he’d said he was feeling sick. He’d just seemed off, so it had made sense to her that he needed air.

She lifted her hand off Louise’s car and stepped back.

He was looking for the car keys in his pockets when she reached him, even though he’d handed them to her to keep in her purse when they’d arrived like he always did.

“God, I’m such a screw-up,” he said. “I’ve lost the damn keys.”

And it was the way he slurred each S that finally made her realize he was drunk. She helped him into the passenger seat. Crouched down to lift his feet into the car. Closed his door and paused, her hand against the metal and her mind against an equally solid wall of confusion because her husband rarely drank. He’d only had one glass of wine with dinner. But he’d also gone to the restroom several times during the meal. Had he stopped at the bar? Without telling her?

Louise pulled out of her parking space and waved. Isla waved back, though the movement was subconscious, disconnected from the images moving behind her eyes.

Yes, she’d tucked her husband into the passenger seat that night. And then?

Then she’d gotten into the driver’s seat and started the car.